23/06/2026
Recently, I received quite a few comments saying agents do not deserve the 2%.
Or that agents are not worth being paid that amount.
I can understand why some people feel this way.
Because from the outside, selling a property may look simple.
Meet the owner.
Take photos and videos.
Post online.
Arrange viewings.
Negotiate.
Close the deal.
If this is all people see, then naturally they may think:
“Why should agents be paid so much?”
But the reality of being a self-employed real estate agent is very different from what people usually see on social media.
Social media tends to show the wins.
The closed deals.
The awards.
The success stories.
But it does not always show the months of work, cost, and energy spent before a deal happens.
And it also does not show the many cases where agents spend all that time and still earn nothing.
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For buyers, an agent may spend months arranging viewings, travelling, discussing options, shortlisting units, and following up.
Every weekend can easily take 2 to 6 hours.
Over 3 months, that can become 24 to 72 hours.
And after all that, the buyer may still decide not to buy.
Or their plans may change.
Or they may go to another agent.
No deal means no income.
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For sellers, it is the same.
Before a property is sold, the agent may spend weeks or months meeting the owner, studying the unit, working out the positioning, arranging photos and videos, handling enquiries, conducting viewings, and negotiating offers.
On top of that, there is also marketing cost.
🔺For example, on PropertyGuru, a normal repost can cost around 14 ad credits, while Turbo Pro can cost around 380 ad credits.
🔺 Every 1 ad credit is about $1.20.
🔺 So one normal repost can be around $16.80.
🔺 One Turbo Pro can be around $456.
And this is just one part of the marketing cost.
All these are paid upfront by the agent.
🔸The time is spent.
🔸The energy is spent.
🔸The marketing cost is spent.
🔸But the income is never guaranteed.
🔸The seller may change their mind.
🔸The market may slow down.
🔸The enquiries may not convert.
And when that happens, the agent absorbs the time and cost.
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I am not sharing this to ask for pity.
Everyone is trying to earn a living.
Buyers have their concerns.
Sellers want the best outcome.
Agents also have to manage our own business costs, time, energy and risks.
This is the reality of a self-employed career.
When there is a successful transaction, people see the commission.
But they may not see the many unpaid hours behind other cases that did not close.
They may not see the travelling.
The weekends spent.
The follow-ups.
The marketing cost.
The emotional energy of serving clients while knowing there is no confirmed income.
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This is also why many people enter the real estate industry, but not everyone stays.
From the outside, it may look attractive.
Flexible hours.
No ceiling to income.
Success stories everywhere.
But behind the scenes, it is a business with real costs and real uncertainty.
Some months can be good.
Some months can have no income.
Some cases collapse even after a lot of work.
So when people say agents do not deserve the 2%, I can understand where the perception comes from.
But I also hope more people can understand the full picture.
A good agent is not just paid for taking photos and opening doors.
A good agent is paid for the experience, judgment, positioning, negotiation, marketing, time, risk, and responsibility behind the transaction.
And this is the part social media often does not show.
